German Patent Application No. DE 100 15 299 A1 describes a method and a corresponding device for triggering a takeover prompt, which signals the driver of a vehicle equipped with adaptive cruise control that the adaptive cruise control system is probably no longer able to control the driving situation and that the driver must intervene. By monitoring two or more vehicle variables, which are causal in triggering the takeover prompt, the probability of a false alarm by the system is reduced, and the triggering of the takeover prompt is adapted to the current vehicle speed.